Sure was nice of Coach Fuente to hand the headset over to Frank Beamer for this game, eh?  When this one wrapped up, it felt like the Battle of Bristol all over again, but this time Tech came out on the winning side. The themes of this game that everyone anticipated were there, but the outcome was decidedly different. The general deciding factor was just how uncomfortable FSU’s offense was in the new scheme. FSU is going to get better—they won’t make it to the ACC title game like Tech did that season (and it might not show up in their record) but they’ll improve. The run/pass option and screen/pass option* game this offense leans on wasn’t there, and it looked like Deondre Francois wasn’t comfortable getting his team out of bad alignment matchups. The o-line’s going to figure things out, too, because it’s impossible to have so many assignment problems throughout the season.

But enough about the Seminoles’ future. On offense, the Hokies had a balanced mindset, and either anticipated or learned early that there were running opportunities to be found if they could get double-teams on the defensive tackles. They got these through some core plays like counter, iso, and duo, while the tackles and tight ends regularly won one-on-one battles by themselves to blow open the edges or encourage would-be tacklers to streak by in the wrong direction. Duo is just about the most caveman running play this side of the fullback dive or QB sneak. No one pulls, no one leads, no one folds, and no one inserts. The offensive line just double-teams both of the defensive tackles and tries to blast them off the ball. The back peers through the resulting cloud of dust and lawn clippings to read the mike (or just to see which double-team is further downfield) then runs three yards before thumping someone.

I’ve seen some message board angst over QB play, but Josh Jackson had a good game. He read the safeties as soon as they turned their hips in Cover 1, Cover 3, and split halves coverages all night long, and he put the ball in the seams and in the end zone well. He even had a cross-field read that would’ve had Scot Loeffler smiling. Only a couple of throws were outright misfires, and he should’ve had two more touchdowns with a little more help from his receivers. His first touchdown was a good example of many elements coming together.

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